Charleston Mayor Danny Jones criticized protesters arrested at U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito's Charleston office on his radio show Tuesday, calling a portion of the city's East End "commie village" in the process.
Jones, who has a radio show on MetroNews affiliate 580 WCHS, referred to the Monday arrests of six protesters at the office as a "tremendous waste of time" for Charleston police officers. The protesters refused to leave the office without Capito, R-W.Va., assuring voters that she will oppose the U.S. Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act.
Capito spoke out against the bill Tuesday afternoon in a release, saying it is "not the right fix" for the state. A vote on the bill had already been delayed until after the July 4 recess.
Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster agreed on the show that the arrests wasted time, but clarified that the demonstration was peaceful and that protesters complied with officers.
"I'd rather be patrolling the West Side, other areas of the city ... rather than dealing with that kind of thing, but that's what we do," Webster said on the show.
Jones spent several minutes on the show discussing the Rev. Jim Lewis, a retired Episcopal priest who helped found Manna Meal and the Covenant House. Lewis was one of the six arrested Monday.
Jones implied Lewis was an opportunist, seeking attention rather than trying to make a difference. Jones said activists hang around "commie village" on the East End, and use protest as fodder for conversation over coffees at Taylor Books.
The mayor clarified in an interview that he was referring to Arlington Court as "commie village," not the entire East End. He said people should not take the comment seriously, calling it a joke.
Jones declined to answer other questions.
According to prior Gazette-Mail reports, Lewis was arrested in 2007 for holding a similar sit-in in Capito's office to protest her support for the Iraq war. He pleaded guilty to trespassing in municipal court, choosing to serve one day of community service over paying a $50 fine.
Jones also called out the Covenant House's executive director Ellen Allen for publicly criticizing his comments on homelessness in April. He said activists like Lewis and Allen use each other to push their message forward.
"They're craving relevance in life. They don't have any," Jones said on the show.
But Lewis said Jones' characterization is false. He said he tries not to let his ego get in the way of his actions.
"What I'm concerned about is the people who don't have health care," Lewis said.
Lewis said his history of fighting for people to have affordable health care speaks for itself, from making sure health care was provided at Manna Meal to providing office space for the Women's Health Center in 1974.
"I take every opportunity to us the little power I have to fight big, powerful figures," Lewis said "If I have a voice, then I'm going to use it."
Lewis said he will continue to speak out, including during a scheduled appearance on Jones' show Wednesday.
A municipal court appearance is scheduled for Lewis and the five other protesters - Kayla Parker, Joe Solomon, Terry Pickett, Bill Price and Paul Dalzell - in August.
Reach Ali Schmitz at ali.schmitz@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @SchmitzMedia on Twitter.